45 Responses to “The Secret To Creativity…”

1. Kathy on Mar 31, 2009 said:

   My first jewelry teacher made me promise that if I copied someone’s design, I would make it better!

2. Emmet on Mar 31, 2009 said:

   That’s the first thing my boss said to me the day I started doing work experience as a designer! He gave me a list of websites to browse and said ‘graphic design is all about stealing other people’s work and passing it off as your own’. I thought it was kind of interesting because as I looked through some of the websites (like logopond.com for example) there were so many logos with comments referring the designer to similar logos, that they may or may not have seen before creating theirs, but still. I think if something is based on another design, but developed far enough to become ‘unique’, it’s not plagiarism at all, it is just inspiration. Which is where things get really confusing! And to answer your question, yes I was involved in a project which blatently stole an idea for use in a design Really interesting post, can’t wait to see the comments. I hope you keep us updated with how your project goes!

3. medXcentral on Mar 31, 2009 said:

   My father always said; “There are no new ideas.”

   I don’t know the answers to the other questions in the article above.. but I think the point my Dad made is an interesting one.

   Do we really believe that, whatever it is we are building, thinking or doing has never been pondered by anyone else in history?

   I’m in the process of building something “new” and I know that it has been thought of. Though… maybe not in the precise form I’m bringing forth. In any event, I have to be honest and say that there are parts of many proven business models embedded within the design of my “new” creation. So, is it really new? Or, am I simply going to be the one who figured out how to sustain the idea until it becomes mainstream within my industry?

   So.. add a question to your thought process; If there are no original ideas, just because someone tried your idea before and did not succeed, does that prove your proposed idea will not succeed as well? (sorry for the poorly formed question… but I think it makes a point.)

   Thanks for the thought provoking post.

4. Jason on Mar 31, 2009 said:

   I think there needs to be a differentiation, obviously, between stealing “themes” and stealing “work”. There aren’t any creative ideas any longer; merely variations on themes. The work, however, needs to be your own. Stealing themes from a story: good. Stealing text from a story: bad.

5. Shay West on Mar 31, 2009 said:

   Jacob: Awesome, though-provoking article about creativity! Bottom line, creativity is about learning, and learning is done through continuous observation of the world around us. Creativity comes in when one is inspired by a concept, and he/she puts their special turn or perspective on an idea.

   Thanks for making my Monday a little more creative!

   Shay West
   http://twitter.com/shaywest

6. RebelDesigner on Mar 31, 2009 said:

   How true is this statement?
   This statement is just so true… and I found this out now after working in an agency for 7 years… and in the beginning I use to think that what is it that seniors hide when ever you go to them… and with experience I found out that its the website that they were hiding, so in short it is true statement…

   How does hiding your sources make you more creative?
   Its doesnt make you more creative PRACTICALLY, but logically when you got the inspiration and now with a little twist you showed them your concept the audience will take it as your idea so logically you are considered creative… and this is why they dont want to reveal that they have copied it from somewhere…

   When does inspiration become plagiarism?
   we all get inspired and I think this is why we are designers, I personally have not attended creative education (as I’m from Computer Sciences) but I’ve seen books where they actually teach you how to take inspiration from even the smallest of the thing that comes your way, I think we all somewhere go through plagiarism atleast a little percentage, as we grew up seeing our elders and then getting inspired and start behaving like them… (either some comic character, some movie star or even father) so I think it is sort of learning stage that we all go through it, the misery is some stay in that stage for life time while others grow up and start coming up with there own ideas

   Have you ever copied someone’s work? Or parts of?
   well I think part of someone’s work might have been used by me but not as it is… with my touch cause as i said its my passion that I’m in advertising not because I’m from art school… so I think it is not possible to copy for those who are drove by there passion… passion for design…

   How much of someone else’s idea can we copy before it becomes a copy?
   Can’t tell… cause it happened twice with me that I made something and then after few days or few more days I found same kind of idea somewhere (on tv, print media, web…) now if someone sees my work and that idea he can say it is copied but to me it is my own creation… so finding it if it is copied or not is bit hard…

   Is there such thing as an original idea?
   Yes… original ideas do exists… but if you look deep inside it… they are also inspired from something which only a creator can tell - or sometimes even he dont know, it is just somewhere in mind…

7. Wladia Viviani on Mar 31, 2009 said:

   Well, I am a developer and a musician as well, so I have a pertinent story to tell.
   I remember when I first started to put some feeling into playing: I wasn´t so sure about the best interpretation to give to each piece. So I started “copying” one of the best world pianist recordings, as well as I could. At least, it would be a good interpretation. Well, after some time I noticed that my “copied” interpretation had switched to a personal one, quite a different one indeed, and I liked it just as much. I don´t know when or how it happened, I think it was kind of a natural evolution, and I guess that’s the natural outcoming of any artist’s inspiration. If the source becomes hardly - if any - recognizable, that´s not copy at the end, as long as one´s criativity speaks louder, so… why not?

8. michelle on Mar 31, 2009 said:

   sooo true … but w/caveats

   i don’t care what field/industry you’re in … we all stand on the shoulders of giants. it’s just our job to reconcile many different sources and substantively improve what we’re stealing!

9. Robin Cannon on Mar 31, 2009 said:

   I try to make it as untrue as possible, although certainly there are themes and ideas of websites that I find inspirational, and aspects which I will use my designs.

   I decided though that using the web as the main source of inspiration starts to make any website design more generic and samey. All your inspiration is based off certain techniques and an inherent acknowledgement of technical limitations.

   I’ve found myself far more inspired to try new things since I deliberately stepped away from the computer when initially drafting a design. I sketch, I have a scrapbook of cuttings and pictures. I come up with ideas and artwork that aren’t subject to my thinking about how I would put a *website* together in a technical sense. Then, when I’ve come up with such a design, I find that most technological limitations can be overcome by code, and subsequently designs are far more fresh.

10. EXXCORPIO on Mar 31, 2009 said:

    I think every designer take at least something from here and there.
    When I was ignorant in design, i made really awful things (and I continue), but with the time I’ve started to see and learn from the biggest artists in the history and i start to copy some of theirs ideas but the really, it’s not copy and do the same thing that the other designer did, its to create something based on that idea, not just copy the result itself, and if you does you have to make it better and always says thanks.

11. moverend on Mar 31, 2009 said:

    I read this somewhere and it lifted all my insecurities about being a fraud or unoriginal designer:

    It’s not where you take things from…It’s where you take them to.

12. Amanda Vlahakis (@trulyacedesign) on Mar 31, 2009 said:

    I would say there is a massive element of truth to it.

    Very few creatives of any form (art, design, music, literary) produce anything completely and utterly original; we are all inspired by what we see, read, and hear.

    The key to being an ethical designer and becoming a good designer is knowing the clear distinction between inspiration and plagiarism and finding a way of developing something fresh from your inspirations.

13. Kevin Gamble (@kevingamble) on Mar 31, 2009 said:

    “So too we are dwarfs astride the shoulders of giants. We master their wisdom and move beyond it. Due their wisdom we grow wise and are able to say all that we say, but not because we are greater than they.” - Isaiah di Trani (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_on_the_shoulders_of_giants)

    The answer is “both”: being inspired by previous iterations of ourselves is not a bad thing, but unless you improve on it (no matter how minute the detail is), you cannot say to have made any progress.

    Therefore, I feel that although some things may have been inspired by others, it is the subtle differences that both moves us forward and allows us to use the title “designers”.

14. Steven Clark on Mar 31, 2009 said:

    It’s a complicated subject… very few ideas aren’t fed by the work and ideas and ‘inspiration’ of others around us.

    But there is also a tendency to follow certain trends that are damaging to the industry - more or less cloning the work of others and not just the ideas. That can be a dangerous line. There’s a word called filching that comes to mind, taking the work of others and changing it just a little… a form of plagiarism.

    The designer / illustrator / programmer or whatever has to really care about not being a mere emulator though. It can break your career if it gets divulged later, especially if a client is sued over your work. In the world of business it’s a lot more than just pride about the originality of work.

    At the same time, we have to accept that even before the information age 2 people could invent the same thing on different continents simulaneously simply through the commonality of inputs…

    Finally, I’d mention that when a graphic designer knows they’re in the clone market and are making ‘the sameish’ as everyone else, well it’s time to look for an original style. A good designer should be distinctive in their style over the years - Steven Heller’s Stylepedia…

    Big subject, how do you fit it into 20 minutes. Good luck with it.

15. Craig on Mar 31, 2009 said:

    What a grey area!

    Of course this relates to many different fields and industries, but when thinking about it in a “web design way”, I believe it is hard to not follow trends when the web is so saturated with similar content. It is perceived that a certain type of site should look a certain way.

    It is refreshing when a new “style” emerges (in the early stages), but it doesn’t take long for the “inspiration posts” and “tutorial posts” on design blogs to re-saturate the web.

    My 2c worth anyway.

16. edwinbored on Mar 31, 2009 said:

    This is pretty cool. How he can cautch the moment!

17. Jacob Cass (@justcreative) on Mar 31, 2009 said:

    Kathy,
    Another quote to add to the mix!

    Emmet,
    I wouldn’t go as far as saying that however it does have an element of truth to it, especially in advertising. Even my advertising lecturer’s door has a post-it-note on it saying something along the lines of “get out of advertising, it is the same rehashed ideas repeated over and over, in every agency you will find the same books”.

    The topic of fake logo designs has been brought up here on JCD and I find it quite cheeky… Designers find a concept of another logo then they change the name of the “company” to make it sound / look better. But I can leave that there has it has already been discussed in the article linked above.

    And that is brave of you to own up to taking the idea from one project for another.

    MedXCentral,
    Not sure if there are NO new ideas but certainly rehashed ones… innovation you may say? Your question, confusing as it may be, did make sense… you could use what Kathy said in the first comment as a form of “answer”?

    Jason,
    Interesting way to put it.

    RebelDesigner,
    1. So are you saying when ever you approached your seniors, they hide the internet browser from you?

    2. Another interesting way to put it “the audience will take it as your idea so logically you are considered creative”… so technically the idea is copied however the final result is not.

    3. This was a topic brought up in the post “Accidental Plagiarism“. And something that was also talked about by Sir Ken Robinson… schools are teaching people out of creativity, not into it.

    4. You say you haven’t copied but what about the idea or concept of a design? The theme?

    5. This is a very thin line here and not sure if anyone has the answer to it, including the ancient legal system that governs the law today.

    6. Agreed.

    Wladia,
    A different perspective there, thanks for sharing!

    Michelle,
    Very much like what Kathy’s teacher said. (First comment)

    Robin,
    Could you provide an example of how the website would be different by using these ideas and sketching in comparison to say if you did it another way?

    Exxcorpio,
    I could also relate here… for example when I had to produce a beer label, I really had to study the “look” of other beer labels so that it didn’t end up in the wrong market area… or end up looking like a shampoo bottle. It helps to “copy” how other designs work for use in your own designs.

    Moverend,
    Nice quote!

    Amanda,
    Most probably not but there are always something that looks so “new” that could it could be passed off as original… yet in most cases the core concept is not.

    Kevin,
    Thanks for another great quote and perspective. I liked how you phrased this: “it is the subtle differences that both moves us forward and allows us to use the title “designers”.”

    Steven,
    I suppose that is where “trends” come from. Being at University I see so many first year students trying to emulate the current trends - it really does get to you but you just have to ignore it, they will learn in time.

    And in regard to filching, this is what I am talking about… this really frustrates me, not only because they are taking nearly all of someone else’s hard work, but because they are passing it off as their own - I believe this is pure plagiarism not inspiration. Anyway, I have to present for 7 minutes of the 20 minutes so we will see… I just hope it doesn’t turn into a rant.

    Craig,
    Web design also has so many other constraints to keep into account which limits the amount of creativity within one’s design, which is one of the reasons why trends on the net are so much more noticable. Thanks for your 2c!

18. moverend on Mar 31, 2009 said:

    I just remembered where I’d read it…

    It was an awesome quote by Jim Jarmusch quoting Jean-Luc Godard on this very subject. Very inspiring.

    http://yayeveryday.com/post/770

19. Ryan on Mar 31, 2009 said:

    This has always been an interesting topic to me. I’m surprised Shepherd Fairey’s case for his HOPE/PROGRESS poster hasn’t entered the mix. This seems, at one level, a lawsuit attempting to define what is appropriate when it comes to inspiration and copyright infringement. I hope he wins, because I hope inspiration wins.

    Inspiration comes from input. Whether a painting, a song, a river or a dream, it is all input and it is all because of what we experience. It becomes an illegitimate copy when it is consumed and spat back out again with a same purpose.

    I wouldn’t hide my sources. My sources are everywhere!

    Thanks for the stimulating post, but I must ask: If you use any of my response in your University presentation, would that now be inspiration or someone else’s work?

20. @chopps on Mar 31, 2009 said:

    Interesting topic. For me referencing other sites/designs to create a similar level acceptability and quality is really circumventing the creative process.

    Any creative endeavor, whether it be logo design or website template design, and I guess I am talking more about surface than information architecture although the holds true, should be based in process.

    Going through the process of defining the value systems or the qualities that you are trying to communicate at the surface level is more important in the earlier stages of the creative process that looking for external sources of inspiration.

    Once you understand what you are doing, what you are trying to communicate, then looking at other example designs for ‘ideas’ or even to evaluate how effectively these values are being communicated through the devices of shape, color, line and typeface is another effective tool in arriving at a design that does its job well.

    These activities that are employed at the more thoughtful and successful design studios that I have had the pleasure of encountering and I think, are they more likely to produce ‘original’ results, as opposed to copying without really understanding why.

    A perfect case study for this would be the similarity of early web 2.0 surface designs that seemed to be more about fashion than effective communication.

    Stay true to the process, creation is an activity, even though the clients pay for the end results.

21. Callum Chapman (@callumchapman) on Mar 31, 2009 said:

    Wow, good questions! I’d only say someone copied someone else if two pieces (or more) look almost identical. Every one looks at other peoples work and like things about it and include similar ideas in their own work.. but I wouldn’t say it’s ‘copying’, it’s inspiration, and I think designers who influence other designers so much that they include similar things in there work should be happy that they have this effect on people! However I think everyone, not just designers, should have their own creativity and style.

    I don’t think there’s such a thing as an original idea. I’ve come up with ideas before for design projects etc with no influence of other designers whatsoever - come online to find they’ve all been done in similar ways before. There just isn’t enough ideas to share between everyone!

    About copying other peoples work, I’ve most definitely taken inspiration from other peoples work and used similar styles, but I have never copied anything pixel for pixel.

    Great discussion btw!

22. Jacob Cass (@justcreative) on Mar 31, 2009 said:

    Ryan,
    I am also interested to hear the outcome of that case and like you I think inspiration should win. And if I do use your quotes I would be giving credit where credit is due

    Chopps,
    Even in design schools they teach this (to go out and research successful and unsuccessful designs)… Analyisis is a key part of the process and like you said will allow you to “produce ‘original’ results, as opposed to copying without really understanding why” however unlike studios, students struggle more with this.

    Callum,
    Guess you were right, I would see you around on here!

    “About copying other peoples work, I’ve most definitely taken inspiration from other peoples work and used similar styles, but I have never copied anything pixel for pixel.”
    I can also relate to this… one example of this would be Nik Ainley’s 3D work… he influenced my 3D cover designs, but certainly mine were not copies of his designs, just the general theme and style.

23. Amanda Vlahakis (@trulyacedesign) on Mar 31, 2009 said:

    I’m Just A Creative Blog also makes some very interesting points about fake logo designs. I was just reading their post on it yesterday, which is how it came to mind.

    (http://imjustcreative.com/logo-design-tips-avoid-getting-intimidated/2009/03/22/)

    When we see the amazing logo designs in logo design inspiration websites, I’m Just A Creative makes the rather valid point that rather than becoming intimidated by the genius behind them to realise that many of these great concepts are for made up companies.

    With a made up company and name one has the convenience of a great company name and concept to work with.

    Of course we all know in reality this isn’t always the case - having to work with excessively long company names, bad company names, awkward to convey services, client demands and much more.

24. RebelDesigner on Mar 31, 2009 said:

    Hay Jacob check out http://twitpic.com/2mu2y/full and tell me if it is inspiration or plagiarism….?

25. Christian Horn on Mar 31, 2009 said:

    Hi Jacob,

    what makes a good musician or band today? I think in 2009 there are no unplayed notes or chords. But every now and then we hear fresh new sounds that we like. So in my opinion the secret of a “good job” or “a good work” in such a business, is to combine all these little parts of options and possibilities with your own style to a whole construct. And this construct is the product of your creativity.

    Hope my english is not too bad and makes sense. im from germany …

    greetz
    Chris

26. Maciej on Mar 31, 2009 said:

    Good artists copy. Great artists steal.
    Pablo Picasso…

27. Andris on Apr 1, 2009 said:

    I guess you cannot reinvent the wheel.

    So getting inspired by everything you see or here is just natural.

    To copy a piece of art or whatever one by one is not creative but criminal.

    The creative part is to collect all the good stuff and get it together as a new one.

28. Frederik Højlund on Apr 1, 2009 said:

    Just a quote I thought is worth mentioning in this connection:
    “Good artists copy, great artists steal” - Pablo Picasso

29. Callum Chapman (@callumchapman) on Apr 1, 2009 said:

    @Jacob, you’ll be seeing my name about more from now on.. hopefully! And yeah, I think all designers, graphic, web, and product designers all get influenced from other peoples work!

30. Brandon McGregor on Apr 1, 2009 said:

    A professor of mine had two sayings that seem appropriate here….

    “You’re only as good as your reference”

    “There are no new ideas, only new combinations of old ideas.”

    What I’ve taken from that is that it’s not so much about being original and unique, as taking solutions that others have already come up with, and making them better and work for your client. If we had to re-invent everything every time there’d be a whole lot more poor design out there, and we’d all be broke after spending months on every little job that crosses our desk.

31. Jacob Cass (@justcreative) on Apr 1, 2009 said:

    Amanda,
    Yeah I had a read of that article yesterday and tweeted about it, thanks for posting the link again. I also brought it up in my article “Fake Logo Designs“.

    RebelDesigner,
    Had a chat to you on Twitter about it!

    Christian,
    And did you know that nearly every song in the top 30 consists of four chords?

    Maciej, Andris, Frederik,
    Another nice quote, thanks!

    Callum,
    I suppose it is natural in some sense and part of the process.

    Brandon,
    Thanks for the quotes from your professor and some interesting points you bring up, never really thought about it like that.

32. Michael on Apr 9, 2009 said:

    I think that there is nothing new under the sun. We all are the same, and we all think some of the same things, because we are all inspired by life.

    When I ‘bite’ someone’s work, it never comes close to whatever they’ve done, because I start adding my own touches to it so it changes almost instantaneously.

    I don’t think hiding sources makes me more creative. I may appear to be, but thats a false image being projected.

    The only time it becomes plagiarism, is when you copy something almost exactly and try to pass it off as your own. But if you take bits and parts of things you find. Thats just using something you’ve seen, just like the person that created what you’re looking at was inspired by something that they saw.

33. BenSky on Apr 12, 2009 said:

    A gritty and interesting topic, i firmly believe that design requires inspiration to be successful, it is essantially research. But there is a fine line between using existing design as an inspiration, putting your stamp on it, improving elements and turning it into an *original* piece of work, to just straight up copying. I think every designer instinctively knows just how much they can use as inspiration from existing work before it crosses the line and becomes stealing.

34. Jacob Cass (@justcreative) on Apr 17, 2009 said:

    Michael,

    I would beg to differ about saying we are all the same. On similar note, why can some people draw as a child and some others not? Is this what we call talent or is talent something that we need 10,000 hours to work towards?

    I do however believe what else you have said is correct.

    Bensky,

    Research is a critical part of the process and is also part of the inspiration however I don’t think that “every designer instinctively knows just how much they can use as inspiration from existing work before it crosses the line and becomes stealing” and that is what I believe is the problem, knowing where to draw the line.

35. Janko on Apr 26, 2009 said:

    Excellent questions! However, it is easy to say that everything today is plagiarism and stealing. Stealing is when someone literally copy your work.

    There are 6 billions of people today and it is unavoidable to have some kind of repeating. Our DNAs differ in less than 1% but each one of us is still unique. If we copy nature (as we always do) then only small percent of differences is what makes creativity uniqueness, and originality. Thieves are something else.

36. Emiloly on May 7, 2009 said:

    Flat out copying is not only illegal but morally wrong. However if you see a design you like and feel inspired to build upon it it is acceptable.

    I’d think it is true to say that every artist needs a ‘Muse’

37. Barry Koehler on May 14, 2009 said:

    We are an amalgam of everything that makes up our lives. In web design, trying to come up with a design that is TRULY original is no easier than any other design arena, be it print, video, or other. For me, the key to considering it as original, is when I can truly feel that I have put part of myself into a design; that I have added something that few others would have added in the same way.

38. ruub on May 15, 2009 said:

    Hi,

    found this interesting little article

    http://ezinearticles.com/?Ever.....-Is-Better!&id=163834

    cu,

    Ruben

39. Vicki M on Jun 12, 2009 said:

    Great discussion topic, and a lot of ways this can be taken. My boyfriend is a web designer and I’m in school now for graphic design. This is a topic that we have had countless conversations surrounding. It’s hard to draw a clear line in this matter but one thing we always manage to agree on is that art/design should always be moving forward. If there is nothing that I can offer what has already been done in order to advance the movement, what am I even doing? Inspiration is necessary and inevitable (whether a designer recognises that impact or not). However, what the individual brings to the inspired work that is unlike anything else is what makes the work memorable.

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